USA Today Reveals College Football Head Coaches' Salaries for Every FBS School
Brian Leigh@@BLeighDAT
Featured ColumnistNovember 6, 2013
On Wednesday afternoon, USA Today released a table detailing the 2013 salary of every FBS head coach in college football.
Alabama's Nick Saban led the way, hauling in a tidy sum of $5,545,852; Texas coach Mack Brown, who has been the subject of incessant hot-seat talk both before and during the season, was second.
Here is a full list of the 10 highest-paid coaches:
| Highest Paid College Football Coaches in 2013 | ||||
| Name | School | Total Pay | 2013 Record | Career Wins |
| 1. Nick Saban | Alabama | $5,545,852 | 8-0 | 167 |
| 2. Mack Brown | Texas | $5,453,750 | 6-2 | 242 |
| 3. Bret Bielema | Arkansas | $5,158,863 | 3-6 | 71 |
| 4. Butch Jones | Tennessee | $4,860,000 | 4-5 | 54 |
| 5. Bob Stoops | Oklahoma | $4,773,167 | 7-1 | 156 |
| 6. Urban Meyer | Ohio State | $4,608,000 | 9-0 | 125 |
| 7. Les Miles | LSU | $4,459,363 | 7-2 | 120 |
| 8. Brady Hoke | Michigan | $4,154,000 | 6-2 | 72 |
| 9. Kirk Ferentz | Iowa | $3,985,000 | 5-4 | 117 |
| 10. Charlie Strong | Louisville | $3,738,500 | 7-1 | 32 |
| Source: USA Today | ||||
Additionally, here are the 10 biggest bargains among coaches from BCS conferences, using the metric "Dollars Earned per 2013 Win":
| Biggest Bargain Coaches From BCS Conferences | ||||
| Name | School | Record | Salary | $/Win |
| 1. Tony Levine | Houston | 7-1 | $902,100 | $128,871 |
| 2. Mark Helfrich | Oregon | 8-0 | $1,800,000 | $225,000 |
| 3. Mike Riley | Oregon State | 6-3 | $1,417,843 | $236,307 |
| 4. Mark Dantonio | Michigan State | 8-1 | $1,959,744 | $244,968 |
| 5. George O'Leary | Central Florida | 6-1 | $1,534,728 | $255,788 |
| 6. Kliff Kingsbury | Texas Tech | 7-2 | $1,855,300 | $265,042 |
| 7. David Cutcliffe | Duke | 6-2 | $1,792,285 | $298,714 |
| 8. Gus Malzahn | Auburn | 8-1 | $2,440,000 | $305,000 |
| 9. Al Golden | Miami | 7-1 | $2,148,107 | $306,872 |
| 10. Dabo Swinney | Clemson | 8-1 | $2,550,024 | $318,752 |
| Source: USA Today | ||||
*Note: Five BCS coaches were unlisted: Steve Addazio (Boston College), Paul Chryst (Pittsburgh), Matt Rhule (Temple), Scott Shafer (Syracuse) and David Shaw (Stanford).
That metric, of course, is slightly flawed to look at midseason, since it only takes wins into account and leaves out percentages.
Art Briles was on the outskirts of breaking the top 10, but Baylor has only played seven games while teams like Auburn and Clemson have played nine. He makes less money than Gus Malzahn and Dabo Swinney, and has obviously been a better value.
On the flip side of that table listed above, first-year Arkansas coach Bret Bielema weighs in—pun intended—as the biggest rip-off, banking $1,719,621 for each of his three wins and infinity dollars for each of his wins over an SEC opponent.
He is the third highest-paid coach in college football.
This just serves as an example of the many fun things we can look at now that USA Today has made all of this information public. Knowledge is power, and now these numbers are completely transparent for all of the world to interpret.